Down with the Sickness

I am annoyed beyond belief because 3 weeks after finishing a massive dose of antibiotics and suffering a hellish sinus infection...I am sick again!!! And the weather at the moment is amazing! I would love nothing better than to be sitting down by the river, reading a good book and enjoying a bottle of wine with my husband. BUT NO, my body is just set to make me miserable and wants me to stay in this stuffy stupid house watching crap tv. That's all well and good when you're having a lazy day but not when the weather is amazing!!!! I just wanted to vent that frustration a bit.

I'm going to a ENT specialist on Tuesday, and I'm anxious to hopefully start a course that will lead to less sick days and more playing outside days. Fingers crossed.....

Dee and Sareta's Baby Blanket

O to knit for all these babies this year! The joy it should bring, and the excitement I felt about doing this particular blanket...

I have such a love/hate feeling for this one. And I don't want to feel hate because I don't want my negative ju-ju vibes to seep into something that will be snuggled next to baby. *le sigh* But it was this square in particular (the blue one,  and also the 2nd knit on) that clued me in that this was going to be a wonky project:

Apparently, whoever wrote out this pattern decided to do it in their own special knit language. For example, "knit 56 garter row stitches", was supposed to be 112 rows. Because I have a ton of yarn left over, and a pretty freakin' small baby blanket. It was the blue square the clued me in a bit later, because when adding the stitches on to create the blue square, it asked for a lot more stitches than can possible fit comfortably attached to the cream square. So it's that fucking blue square that made the WHOLE BLANKET wonky. And it's too late to go back and change it. So Dee and Sareta are getting a wonky baby blanket....and I feel very disappointed in myself. 

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Ever since it was announced that Tim Burton was going to do "his" version of Alice, I've been a bit apprehensive. No lie, I do enjoy Tim Burton films. I think Sweeny Todd was massively under-rated and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over-rated. Like any director, he has his hits and misses, but I have found that lately he is dangerously close to his films being self-parody of the magical and enchanting films his career started with. 

....and I LOVE Alice in Wonderland, and would hate to see it butchered. But today I've been excited, as I've so far ignored most of the info coming out about the film.  Yes, we all knew Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter would be in it, but there's a few others I am now really excited about. Like, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen sounds perfect. Alan Rickman as the Catapillar? Sounds fantastic to me. But wait a minute, o what's this I see? Stephen-fucking-Fry as the Cheshire Cat? *Tap dancing excitement* I love this man. AND WAIT....Hold it...wait for it.....o yes....CRISPIN GLOVER as the Knave of Hearts. 

So that's kinda made my morning a little more special, than the previously posted knit cupcakes. 

Totally Lush looking Knit Cupcakes

These look absolutely amazing. I found them through rummaging around Ravelry this morning, they are on the blog, Vegan Yum Yum  They even kindly include the recipe and how to's for the cute lil knit pieces! 

I want to get into cup-caking so badly, but I have no idea when and how I would fit it into my massive task list of things to do and things to learn. But I thought these were too cute not to share!

Coraline Review

Yesterday, we went to see Coraline. I was very excited about seeing this because:

1. I love Neil Gaiman, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book it was based off of.

2. It's stop motion animation, from the same director of Nightmare Before Christmas

3. Looks amazing.

And I would say that, yes, overall it met all my expectations and was stunning to look at. I don't think that it HAS to be seen in 3-D, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it just as much in 2-D. I also loved that Coraline has blue hair. It was a small touch that I found charming.

BUT (there's always a 'but'), a very important element of the story was changed, and left me disgruntled at the end of the film. While the book is based on Neil Gaiman's book, the story was written for the screen by director, Henry Selick. In the film, a character by the name of Wybie is introduced into the narrative, even tho he does not exist at all in the book. I was okay with this, Coraline thinks mostly internally in the book, and this character allows her to interact and bring across her character. Because we all know, internal monologues in films can be VERY boring. So Wybie didn't really bother me....until the last few moment of the film.

I will carefully try not to give too much away, but in the book Coraline "saves the day" by her own careful planning and ingenuity. In the film, Wybie rushes in at the end to save the day. Which to me, only perpetuates to little girls that a boy will always be there to solve the problem, save them from danger, etc. I hate to push that sort of feminist rhetoric on what is otherwise a charming children's film, but I hate that they took away such a wonderful, positive ending; and instead put a "safe", "old-fashioned" ending on it.

Otherwise, I would say, go see it. It's a fantastic film and I was secretly hoping that one day I have a little girl as imaginative and brave as little Coraline.

 

School is almost finished!!!

I am so freakin' excited! I can't wait to have my time and life back! To just enjoy a movie, and not think "o wait, I should probably be watching (fill in the blank) for class". Here are a few things I am looking forward to:

1. READING---I tried, in vain, to make a pile of books I want to jump into immediately. It's no use tho! I have too many books that I can not wait to read! Wendy and I have decided to both start June off by reading Lord of the Flies. Somehow I missed that one in high school and it's supposed to be a good. 

2. CRAFTS---I bought this amazing book of crafts and I haven't had the time to do anything in it. Tonight I was flipping through and I am really looking forward getting covered in glue, paint, glitter and paper. It will be good times.

3. KNITTING---there's always a need for more time for knitting. I also want to start a knitting night with some friends.

4. THE HOUSE---the house has been so neglected the last few months because of school! I have a plan and I will see it through! By September this place will be on track for beautiful!!!

so it's a short list, but it's what keeps my spirits high while I'm feeling overwhelmed with essays and deadlines. It's all going to be over in 4 weeks time. While I'll be sad, and I can't believe i'm FINALLY going to be receiving a degree....I'm ready to have a bit of a break! I'm ready to have a little quiet life this summer.